Kerala to give ex-ISRO scientist Rs.10 lakh relief

The Kerala government will hand over at the earliest Rs 10 lakh as interim compensation to former ISRO scientist S Nambi Narayanan, who was framed in a false espionage case, chief minister Oommen Chandy said on Wednesday.

"The high court recently directed to pay him (Narayanan) a compensation of Rs 1 million and the cabinet today decided that it would be done at the earliest," Chandy said.

Last month, the Kerala high court upheld the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) order directing the government to pay an interim compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the former ISRO scientist.

The original petition of Narayanan, filed about 12 years ago, asked for a compensation of Rs 10 million.

Narayanan in the early 1990s was working on the cryogenic technology at the Indian Space Research Organisation centre here when he was arrested on false espionage charges along with another top ISRO official, two Maldivian women and a businessman.

The case was dismissed by the Supreme Court in 1996 and thereafter the scientist filed a compensation petition in a lower court in Thiruvananthapuram.

The CBI also gave Narayanan a clean chit and indicated that the police officials who brought charges against him did not do a clean job.

"I am yet to get a copy of the judgment and we will have no qualms to have a re-look if the situation warrants," said Chandy when asked if the state government would look into the role played by police.